Other Salary Adjustments

Salary Adjustments

Decisions on all salary adjustments must be implemented in accordance with legislative requirements. Colleges and divisions are also responsible for insuring compliance with all applicable federal and state rules and regulations regarding compensation.

Merit Increases

Each year as part of the budget planning process, the University of Houston will prepare a salary budget that specifies the average increase amount, if any, to be given to employees during the fiscal year. The salary budget will be based on a comparison of the university's pay rates to external salary survey data, as well as the salary budgets projected by other peer and comparison organizations. The salary budget will reflect dollars available to fund general and/or merit increases.

University of Houston policies permit the awarding of merit increases on a semi-annual basis to be effective on September 1. Only benefits-eligible employees who have completed six month of continuous employment at the University as of the effective date of the merit program are eligible to receive a merit increase.

Merit increases are based on an employee's documented job performance and are intended to reward individual performance, increased productivity, improved quality, and/or reduced costs. To be eligible for a merit increase, individuals must have a current performance appraisal on file in the Human Resources Department.

Whenever a merit increase program is funded and authorized, the Human Resources Department will prepare and distribute detailed guidelines to college and division business administrators. The guidelines will include the authorized merit increase amount, funding requirements, performance level required to be eligible to receive a merit increase, and other program criteria. Merit increases must be approved by the Board of Regents prior to their implementation.

Equity Pay Adjustments

The Human Resources Department periodically audits pay rates within classifications to identify potential pay problems. It is also the responsibility of the college or division to bring to the attention of the Assistant Director for Human Resources any significant pay problems that may exist in their organization.

A dean or division head may initiate a pay equity adjustment whenever he or she determines that the present level of compensation of an employee or group of employees is at a level that:

it results in an unusual level of turnover of employees in the group; or,

it results in a disparity in current paid rates for similarly classified employees in that unit; or,

the level of compensation is substantially below the comparable level of compensation for similar employment outside the University of Houston; and,

the present level of compensation has substantially reduced the university's ability to deliver services.

Individual equity increases shall be based on one or more of the following:

internal equity

external competitiveness

longevity

quartile within salary range

All equity pay adjustments are subject to review and approval by the college or division administrator, dean or division head, and the director of the Human Resources Department. Normally, funds for any approved equity pay adjustment must come from the authorized budget of the affected college or division.

Pay Above Maximum

If, for any reason, an incumbent's base pay exceeds the maximum of the grade, the employee's pay will be "red circled." This means that all base pay rate increases will be withheld until the base pay rate falls within range, at which time the incumbent will be eligible for future increases. Any exception to this policy requires prior approval by the director of the Human Resources Department.